Wandering Souls
by Moonshae
Summary: Kinai, Kiba and Hinata are sent on a mission by the Hokage to escort a Feudal Lord. It's supposed to be a simple mission, but it takes a wrong turn as the mission progresses. How come missing-nins from the Grass knows about the mission?
1. Prologue

**Hi, this is Moonshae, the author. I've re-uploaded the prologue and chapter 1 due to some mispellings in these. For that I am truely sorry. I hope they haven't caused too much trouble. But if you notice more, please let me know!! **

**Thanks to 90MLLu for the corrections, and I promise that the next chapter will be up soon!! I really do! It's just real life eating me up. **

**---**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, but I do own Kinai and Kiko-san.**

**Warning: A little blood?? Our beloved Yondaime is a little hurt??**

**Prologue**

"Look out!"

Kunais flew past a tall man with bright blue eyes. He dodged them, but before he could thank the other man, more weapons where thrown towards them. The little crew continued their path from tree to tree, but the tall leader suddenly stopped, leaving the two others questioning.

"Hokage-sama!" a huge bandana-clad man yelled out frustrated, but the tall man held his hand up to prevent the other from saying more.

A small cry sounded further in the woods. It was a heartbreaking cry, which could probably belong to a child. The hokage changed his path and followed the sound of the child, leaving his teammates to themselves. As he moved, he heard them yell his name.

The rain fell even harder, and the hokage felt his blonde hair stick to his face, but ignored it and continued. When the cry was near enough, he stopped and hid in case it should be a trap.

Under the trees sat a little girl. From what the Yondaime could see, she couldn't be more that two or three years old. As he slowly walked nearer, he looked around to find her parents, not succeeding. When he reached her, she jumped up and moved away from him in fear.

His heart broke when he saw her face. She was covered in mud and had several cuts all over her body. Her face looked beaten up, and she had a bleeding cut under her left eye. She gasped as she saw him, but was too scared to cry.

Without thinking of danger, the Yondaime sat down in front of her, smiling friendly.

"Hello there," he whispered soothingly. The girl just stared at him with big, wet eyes. "What has happened to you, poor child?!" He reached to wipe the blood away from her cheek, but she quickly moved away from him touch.

"Hush, child. I am not going to hurt you!" Without breaking the eye contact, he moved a little closer, carefully so he didn't scare her even more. "Tell me, child. What are you doing out here? It's dangerous. And where are your parents?"

The girl's eyes went even bigger. "K-kaasan…… T-tousan…" she mumbled as her brown eyes filled with new tears.

"Yes… Kaasan…tousan... Where are they?"

The little girl started once more crying and pulled further away from him. Then she lifted a shaking hand and pointed in a direction behind the Hokage. He turned around, but what he saw was not a good sight.

Two lifeless bodies lay under a big tree, injured and bloodied, with broken arms and legs. The Yondaime widened his eyes in anger and rose, slowly and carefully.

"Girl! Who did this?!" he whispered shocked. The girl just kept crying and shook her head as she whispered: "Kaasan…Tousan…"

Yondaime walked slowly, but steady towards the bodies, leaving the girl alone.

"IIIEEEE!!" she screamed as he left her, but she didn't dare to move. Yondaime stopped and turned to look at her. She kept saying 'Iie', as she shook her head.

Yondaime smiled at her and said: "Don't worry. I'll take care of you. Your parents will be revenged" He turned again, but got stopped of the girl screaming 'Iie' again. He turned again, and this time the girl stretched her hands out as if she wanted him to come back to her.

"What a shame you can't talk," he smiled. He motioned the 'just a sec' sign and turned his back to her - which he should never have done.

A dark ninja jumped down from above the corpses, holding a kunai in front of him. Yondaime couldn't get away in time, so the ninja burrowed a kunai deep into his abdomen. Blood sprang, but before the attacker could do more, Yondaime swung around, sending him to the ground with a kick.

Behind him the little girl screamed in fear as she saw the ninja, and then the blood. She stood up and held her hands up as a child does to a parent.

Yondaime pulled the kunai out and held a hand over the wound as he stumbled towards the child, lifting her up in his arms and continued running without stopping once. He couldn't see them, but he heard and felt them tracking them down. He found a kunai and swung around to parry some incoming kunais. As he swung around, he stumbled over a tree root and fell, dropping the girl. They both collided brutally with the forest ground.

The girl screamed as she collided with the ground, rolling further away from the Yondaime. The hokage stretched his hand after her, and made an effort to stand, but he choked up blood and fell down to the ground again. He had already lost too much blood and he wasn't sure what to do. His teammates weren't in sight. He guessed the ninja had already found them and were fighting with them.

A sizzling sound made him look up. A herd of shurikens had been thrown against them. Yondaime rolled away from those which were meant for him, and stumbled towards the girl covering her just before the shuriken hit her. He felt the cold metal tear his flesh apart which made him choke up blood one more time. He collapsed over the girl, not possessing anymore strength to run and hide again.

The girl managed to drag herself out from under the hokage. When she saw him, dirty and blood running down his face and body, tears ran from her eyes. She gripped his clothes and yanked it to get him move. She screamed and cried, screaming 'tousan' over and over, finally moving him to his back.

When the shurikens were pushed further inside his back, it made him choke up more blood. He looked sadly at the girl. "Gomenasai," he whispered. "I couldn't keep my promise." Choking. "But you have to run. Hide or they will find you."

The girl looked at him, terrified. "Iie!" she yelled. "Iie, tousan, iie!!"

The hokage coughed again. "Gomenasai…"

"T-tousan… IIIEEEEEE!"

The scream sounded so loud that even Yondaimes teammates could hear her. "Kiko! Hurry! It could be the hokage!" Ibiki yelled. Kiko finished off the last ninja and they followed the scream – hoping not to be too late.

Yondaime gasped in shock as a thick, blue shield of chakra poured out of the little girl surrounded them both. Thrown weapons were either blasted away or simply destroyed by the heavy flow of chakra. The girl clung to his shirt, still screaming from pain and from anger and fear. A silly ninja jumped down from a tree, but got hit by the uncontrollable chakra and burned to dead with a painful scream. With a suddenly glimpse, the chakraflow turned yellow and exploded and burned the rest of the ninja, along with the surrounding trees, leaving a burned crater around them.

The girl collapsed on Yondaimes chest from exhaustion and felt unconscious.

The two of them was found not long after by Ibiki and Kiko, both unconscious, but still, even barely, alive and was brought back to Konoha.

* * *

**Translations:**

**'Kaasan: Mother**

**'Tousan: Father**

**Iie: No**

**Gomenasai: Sorry**

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**You wanna know a secret? Authors live by reviews =D Even though they can't spell and re-upload an old chapter ^_^**


	2. Mission

**Chapter one: Mission**

"Kinai-sensei?" A brown-haired chuunin looked up from her desk. A black-haired chuunin with his hitai-ate worn as a bandana entered the dark classroom. The students had long ago left the Academy, but as a teacher, Kinai still had work to do.

"Hai, Izumo-san?"

"Hokage-sama wants to see you," Izumo said, scratching the back of his head. Kinai smiled at him and rose.

"Well, then I better go seeing her," she said with said with a sigh. A grey and white wolf lay beside the desk, slumbering, but rose as the chuunin headed for the door. "C'mon Wolf. Gotta get going."

Wolf licked his paws lazily, but followed his master, yawning.

Izumo walked with her on her way to Tsunade's office, also yawning. Kinai looked at him. "Had a though day?" He looked at her and scratched his neck. "Na, not really. We haven't really had some incoming reports today, so Iruka-san and Kotetsu did the work in the report room. And you?"

Kinai patted Wolf on his head as he appeared beside her. "Not really either. The kids were usually nice today. Even Konohamaru could actually sit still and participate active in the lessons."

Izumo smiled widely. "Amazing. But," he looked at the kunoichi. "How come you're still here, then?"

"Well, in periods like this, the apartment is so quiet and boring. No one to talk with besides Wolf, so I'd rather do my paperwork at the Academy than home. At least, here's almost people 24/7, and always someone to talk with. It's nice in lonely evenings." Kinai gave Izumo an innocent smile and shrugged. The shinobi grinned and waved after her as he left them for other business.

--

As they reached the big brown door symbolizing Tsunade's office, Kinai nodded shortly to the two ANBU guardians before she knocked at the door and pushed it open.

Tsunade sat behind her huge desk, turning a sake-cup between her high-polished fingers. She smiled evilly when she noticed the dark expression on her chuunin's face. When Kinai stopped in front of the desk, she made only a short salute before bury her hands deep into her pockets.

The hokage placed the cup on her desk. "You sure remind me of Kakashi when you do that," she said, snickering, making Kinai sigh deep. Wolf laid down beside his master.

"Before you say anything, Hokage-sama, so let me guess why you wanted to see me. You've got a new mission for me, right?"

The hokage smiled. "Bingo," she grinned, making Kinai sigh again.

"I'm just so lucky…"

"So… you want it?"

"I really can't believe why you're asking. I really don't have a choice to choose, do I?" She caught the scroll which Tsunade tossed at her. "I'll see you off by dawn then. Dismissed!"

--

Kinai looked at the scroll which she still had in her hand. The rain poured down, soaking them both. She sighed and put it into her chest pocket. Wolf looked at her and made a noise. She looked at him. "What's the matter?"

Wolf shook his head and looked at her again. "Nothing's wrong, you know. I'm fine," Kinai smiled. The animal just yawned as if not believing.

"Hey! I am telling the truth!"

--

As they finally entered their apartment, they were soaked to their skin. Wolf soon got rid of the water in his fur by shaking it of. Kinai did only leave her boots by the door and walked inside the apartment leaving wet spots everywhere she went.

She walked straight to the couch and sat down. On a small table beside the couch stood a couple of pictures. One of them showed Kakashi and team 7, the other showed a three year old Kinai sitting on the shoulders of the Yondaime Hokage. Kinai smiled when she saw it. The last picture was almost hidden behind the others. The young chuunin arranged the pictures so all pictures could be seen. It was similar to the team 7-picture, it just had Kakashi's team and sensei instead.

When Kinai looked up again, Wolf entered the living room, carrying some towels in his mouth. He placed then in front of Kinai and looked at her.

"What?" Kinai laughed.

Wolf licked his mouth.

"Hey there, don't give me that look. I'm fine, right? I'm just a bit…wet. That's all."

Wolf stared at her and yawned.

"Fine, when you say it… Daddy…" she sighed and mumbled quiet: "If I did get sick, I wasn't supposed to take that mission tomorrow…"

Wolf placed a paw on her knee making Kinai stick her tongue out at him. She took a towel and began to dry herself.

The silence was interrupted when a growl filled the room. Kinai looked surprised at her stomach. "Hm…Maybe I should go make some food, eh?" Wolf woofed and licked her hand as the kunoichi patted him.

Leaving the towel hanging around her shoulders, she rose and made her way into the kitchen. Wolf followed, walking under the table and laid down. Kinai scowled after her, muttering something about 'lazy creature', but moved to her cooking before Wolf got an eye of her.

As the kitchen was filled with the sound of sizzling meat and the dripping water from the kunoichi's wet clothes, Kinai hummed a small melody, not noticing a dark shadow entering the room.

The figure sneaked up behind her, then, suddenly, it swung an arm around her waist and held up a gloved hand to cover her mouth. Her left hand flew to her weapon purse, but it got caught before she could get any weapons.

"Maa, not so hasty," a very familiar voice whispered near her left ear, followed by a masked kiss on her cheek.

Kinai relaxed and made an irritated smirk. "Tell me," she started and turned around in her husbands arms. "Why in the name of the hokage are you back so early?"

Kakashi looked surprised at her and pouted miserably. "You're not happy to see me?"

Kinai laughed at his expression and tried to free herself from his grip. "Of cause I am. I just didn't expect you so soon."

"Really?" He tightened his grip around her. "You had another _appointment_ perhaps?" He put a pressure on 'appointment'.

Kinai giggled. "Do I sense a tiny hint of _jealousy_?" she said, teasing him.

"In your dreams," he sulked. Kinai smiled at him and received another masked kiss, this time on her mouth. She kissed him back, inwardly cursing the fabric which kept their mouths apart. A sudden noise made them part and both eyed the open door. Wolf stood in the doorway looking at them in a very resignedly way. Kinai chuckled as he growled annoyed at Kakashi, making the jounin tighten his grip around his precious wife. Kinai strained herself to break free from his grip, fruitlessly.

Finally he let her go, but it was only because something at the cooker started to smell a bit burned. Kinai practically jumped to the cooker to prevent her cooking to be spoiled. Kakashi just put his hand in his pocket and started to read in a little orange book.

Kinai sighed. Fortunately, the dinner wasn't completely spoiled, but it didn't taste nor smell like rose petals. Signing in vain, she tipped the contents op a teller and gave it to Wolf, who immediately started on eating.

"Congratulations, you just spoiled your own dinner!" she declared wiping her hands.

Kakashi just looked lazily over the edge of his book, mumbling, "Huh?", as if he hadn't heard a word of what she had said. Kinai sighed and threw a wet dishcloth after him, hitting the wall behind his as he lazily moved his head to avoid the cloth in hitting him. Kinai stuck her tongue out at him making him smirk.

Wolf just looked at them, enjoying his meat.

"By the way," Kakashi began still looking in his book. "How come you're all wet?"

Kinai looked at herself. "Well, if you haven't noticed, it's raining outside. But," she made a gesture to his own clothes, "it actually doesn't look like _you're _too dry yourself!" Kakashi looked down himself and 'oh-ed' as if he just suddenly got the reason why he felt so clammy. Kinai rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"Well, since you decided, beef's not your favourite food, then do you favour other kinds of food? Because_ I,_ in particular, _do_ fancy to eat after 6 o'clock."

Kakashi laid his book on the table and looked at her.

"And," Kinai added, "only includes _food_ which you can _buy_ and _cook,_ and it doesn't include _me_!"

Kakashi pouted again, but Wolf made some weird noises as if laughing. Kinai smiled victorious.

--

Sitting comfortable on the couch Kinai sat reading, wearing nothing but a bathrobe and a towel around her hair. Wolf had placed himself beside her, sleeping soundly. Kinai had one hand on her book while the other petted Wolf, scratching him behind his ear. The fire in the fireplace crackled merrily. Kakashi entered the living room wearing only pants and a towel around his shoulders. Kinai looked up and patted smiling on the seat next to her, gesturing him to sit next to her. The jounin dug his hands deep into his pockets and moved to sit next to her.

When he sat down, Kinai leaned against him to make herself more comfortable. She leaned her head against his curve between neck and shoulder, putting her book down.

"Mmm, you smell so much nicer now," she whispered. Kakashi smiled and rested his cheek against her head. "So do you."

"Tough day?"

"Hm, though week. Typical Tsunade. Only stupid missions for me."

"Heh, I guess. The kids, though, haven't been that bad. So, all in all this day has been nice. Though..." Kinai trailed of. Kakashi lifted his head and looked at her. "What?"

"Well," she moved her head to look at him. "I got a mission." Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate down so it covered both his eyes. "Night," he mumbled and rested his head at the back rest.

"Hey!" Kinai laughed and hit him on the shoulder.

Kakashi placed his hitai-ate normal, leaving it only to cover his sharingan. Kinai had to admit that he looked slightly disappointed. "Listen, it's not like this is something new, right?"

Kakashi just sat there, not even looking at her. Kinai started to get a little irritated. "Kakashi, please look at me, or at least answer!" When he finally looked at her, he wore an unreadable expression.

"Hey," the chuunin smiled. "Come on, give me a smile." But Kakashi just stared at a spot above the fireplace and pulled Kinai into a hug. "Which rank?" he finally asked.

She could clearly hear his heart beating deep within his chest. Kinai bit her lip. "B."

She could have sworn his heart skipped a beat when he heard the rank. She looked at him, "But I've already read the scroll. It doesn't seem to be something special! Just an escort of some feudal lord. Nothing else!" But the jounin didn't seem convinced.

Kinai felt the irritation bloom again.

"When do you leave?"

"At dawn."

Silence again. Kinai hated this. Whenever she was given a mission, they always to go through this.

"I thought I could spend some quality time with my wife, but I see I can't"

Kinai stood up and threw her book onto the couch. "Listen, I'm the subordinate. It's not like I just can walk up to Tsunade and say, 'Hey Granny! I don't want to go on that mission, 'cuz I want to spend some quality time with my husband. And besides, he will not let me!' How does that sound?"

Kinai felt her eyes burn. She really hated this. "Everyone asks why I don't join ANBU, or at least become a jounin. I like teaching, and you won't let me because you don't want me to face the cruelness of ANBU!"

"You don't know the dangers on such missions. You don't know which blood baths they can cause."

"I saw my parents _die_!!"

Silence again. Kinai felt her adrenaline pump faster the angrier she grew. "I can't deny my abilities. Though I'm not of high rank, Tsunade can use my abilities to tough missions. And I _can_ handle it! _Don't underestimate me_!"

"I don't."

"You _do_!" Wolf woke as they argued and looked at them both. Kinai raged within. Why didn't he understand?

"_You don't understand me_!"

Kinai turned around and angrily wiped tears away. She rushed to the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Kakashi looked after her, inwardly cursing himself. _Why can't you just tell her instead of making her sad? Damn you, Hatake! You and your damned pride!_

Wolf looked resignedly at him and continued on sleeping.

"Well, I can't expect any help from your side, can I?!"

Kakashi sighed and let his head fall back.


	3. Heading for the Mountain Country

**Happy New Years everyone! I just decided to finish this chapter before the new year starts, so I have been thinking of further goodies to come up with in this story. It is not as long as I originally planned it to be, but I hope the mission turns out to take a while. Who knows what can happen ****during a mission :P**

**Anyways, who can be Kinai's teammates? **

**Where are they heading?**

**What is their mission task?**

**Does Kakashi plan to sleep until Kinai returns?**

**Does anybody actually read the authors silly notes?**

**---**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I ****did**** teach Kakashi to cook**

**Warnings: A deadly frying pan**

**Chapter 2****: Heading for ****the Mountain Country**

Kinai woke an hour before dawn. The room around her was dark and cold. She carefully moved Kakashi's arm, which he had put around her waist, afraid to wake him up. He needed the sleep since he probably hadn't been able to sleep much the past week. As her feet collided with the cold floor, she felt a shiver spread from her spine and she hugged herself in the cold room. The winter had finally killed the last warmth from the fall.

Kinai pulled herself together and rose from the bed. She turned around and pulled the warm duvet further around Kakashi's bare chest, protecting him from the coldness. Then she soundlessly opened her drawer and pulled out her uniform, before she tiptoed out to the bathroom.

As soon as she was fully dressed, she walked into the living room, silently closing the bedroom door behind her.

She looked around in the silent apartment. The only light which entered the room was from the moon outside. Kinai sighed and looked out of the window. At least the rain had stopped.

She walked from the bedroom door and entered the kitchen, switching the light on.

"Wolf?" she whispered into the darkness of the living room

The grey and white furred wolf yawned and looked at his mistress. Kinai smiled at him as jumped down from the couch made his way into the kitchen. Kinai sat down and petted him. "Slept well?"

Wolf nudged her lightly and let her scratch his head.

Kinai made her way to the kitchen and snatched a bun from the fridge and quickly wrote a note to Kakashi and placed it on the table so he would notice it as soon as he entered the kitchen. She checked the fridge one last time to make sure that he didn't need anything, but frowned at her own actions. He had lived alone since his sensei died, why shouldn't he be able to handle himself? He _was _capable of cooking without her help after all. In fact, from time to time he was even better.

---

"_Kakashi! Get out of the kitchen!" An angry kunoichi threw a broken plate after the silver-haired shinobi. "Stop ruining my food!"_

_Kakashi held his hands up in defence and ducked the plate which landed behind him in a small pile of other broken plates. "I didn't ruin your food, you did that excellently all by yourself."_

"_Oh yeah?!"_

"_Yeah."_

_Another flying tableware landed in the pile. "Don't you dare talk back on me!"_

"_I didn't."_

"_See? Again!"_

"_Listen, just sit down and let's talk. At least, before your temper pulls you over the edge!"_

"_TEMPER?!" Kinai grabbed the closest artillery – which happened to be the frying pan and aimed for Kakashi's head. U fortunately, Kakashi ducked again, letting the frying pan blast out of the window. Both heard it collide with something that made a wounded noise, leaving them both deadly silent. Kinai looked palely at her husband who gave her an unreadable gaze. Both rushed to the windowsill and looked around for the injured. Several metres from where he was supposed to be, a bandana clad man was lying facedown next to a broken frying pan and his round sunglasses. _

"_What are you standing there for?! Go help that poor man!" Kinai practically kicked her husband out of the window. _

_~*~ _

"_I am terrible sorry, Ebisu-san. My hand sort of slipped, a-haha!" Kinai grinned foolishly and handed the unlucky target a cup of coffee and a bag of ice for his head. Kakashi leaned against the doorframe, awfully happy for the mask covering the grin he couldn't keep of his face. Of all people to get hit by the flying frying pan of doom, Ebisu had to be the one getting hit by it. This day probably couldn't get any better. _

_Ebisu replaced his now oblique sunglasses with all the dignity that he could muster. Wolf just sat by Kakashi's side and enjoyed the show just as much as Kakashi did. _

"_Everything is forgiven, Kinai-sensei. This could happen to even the best of us," Ebisu sipped of the hot coffee and adjusted his glasses once more. _

"_No, no Ebisu-san. I shouldn't have swung the pan. It could have hit a civilian and caused even more damage." Kinai threw the broken pan into the waste bin and smiled friendly at him. Kakashi hid a chuckle before Kinai would notice. Fortunately it hadn't been a civilian, or else they wouldn't be able to remember this hilarious situation. He had even been tempted to reveal his Sharingan just to remember the state in which they found Ebisu, but Kinai had hit him so hard that he thought he had got a brain concussion._

"_At least accept a small meal. That is the least we can do," Kinai pressed further on. Ebisu didn't have to think for long before he thanked her a lot and was escorted into the living room. _

"_You just wait here, Ebisu-san, my husband and I will prepare something right away. It won't take long." With a smile, she disappeared into the kitchen._

_Once in the kitchen, Kinai's smile disappeared. "Look what you have done!" She hissed through clenched teeth._

_Kakashi just looked at her. "Me? Who threw the frying pan??"_

_The kunoichi snorted and turned to the cooker. "Make yourself useful and help cook some dinner for poor Ebisu-san!"_

_Kakashi chuckled and shoved her aside. "You just go and talk to the 'poor Ebisu-san'. Then I'll take care of things out here." Kinai eyed him sceptically, but turned to the living room. _

_Fifteen minutes later, Kakashi appeared in the room with a plate full of delicious __Okonomiyaki. Even Kinai looked wide-eyed at the plate. How come that pervert was so good at cooking? Wasn't she supposed to be the one shining in the kitchen?_

_When she commented it after Ebisu had left with yet an apology and a promise to go to the hospital for at check-up, Kakashi had just smiled and told her 'secret abilities'._

_---_

Kinai smiled at the memory and closed the fridge. Kakashi had made lots of Okonomiyaki since that time. The only thing better was the Ramen from Ichiraku, but you couldn't actually compare Okonomiyaki to Ramen. And Kinai had bought a new frying pan, so Kakashi had no excuse for not being able to make it.

As Wolf entered the kitchen, Kinai looked out the window. Almost time to leave. She grabbed her backpack and filled it with the necessary stuff as tents, food and water. She made sure she had equipped enough weapons and finally tied her hitai-ate around her head, wearing it as a headband as usual to keep her long hair away from her face. She pulled her gloves on and rearranged Wolf's and her own bandages before picking up her backpack and headed for the door. Checking the mission scroll one last time before burning it, she locked the front door and leapt from roof top to roof top.

At the village gate, her team was waiting for her, everyone fit and ready. Kinai landed in front of them together with Wolf. She grinned and eyed her team mates. "So," Kinai said with her arms akimbo. "Are we ready to leave? Hinata-san, Kiba-kun, Akamaru-kun?"

"Hai!" Hinata and Kiba said while Akamaru just yapped. Wolf eyed the small dog sceptically, but didn't react. Kinai just scratched him behind his ear with a smile.

"Good, let's get going then! To the Mountain Country!" Before following her teammates, she looked up at the darkening sky with a worried look. Snow was the least of things they needed for their mission to the far away Mountain Country.

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**Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food that consists of batter and cabbage.**** It is said to be very delicious. **

**I like snow… Did anyone noice the flashback?? And I know, I sorry. Please don't kill me for my mistakes :)**

**So! The mission finally started. The Mountain Country? Where the heck lies that?? Poor Ebisu. I actually really like that guy and even though Kakashi actually thinks of him as an excellent teacher, I just can't stop making fun of him. He is just too easy :) Please forgive me, those Ebisu-lovers out there who may feel miffed. I am but a poor human in both ways.**

**You like cookies? I thought so :) Review = cookie**


	4. Thunderstorm

**Hello everybody! Moonshae here... you know, the author and all XD. I've finally made it through the third (fourth) chapter and I'm really sorry for the long delay. I'm really really sorry, but since I've got exams and all, I haven't had much free time. And then I had to wait for it to be beta'ed, since my friend also has exams. **

**To fill up on the last questions, we now know that Kinai's team consists of Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru. They are headed to the Mountain Country, but we don't know their exact task. Whereas Kakashi... Well, he probably decides to sleep during the whole mission.  
**

**And thanks to all those who actually reads the author's notes! We really appreciate that our few words reach the people. **

**Special thanks to all my lovely reviewers!!! You all made me so happy!! I'm especially sorry that you had to wait longer this time, but I'll definitely do something about that.**

**But anyways, here it is! The chapter which changed title five times before I was satisfied with it XD**

**---**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only Kinai and Wolf. Did you know that 'Kinai' is a pun on 'kunai'?**

**Warnings: Beware of the many countries...**

* * *

**Chapter 3: ****Thunderstorm**

The darkening sky had been following them for a few days by now and Kinai was getting more and more worried. Although the sun still shone before them, the storm luring in the dark approached them far too fast. They hadn't gone as far as she had planned, and she still needed to decide which route to take. Glancing one final time at the sky, she held her hand up and landed soundlessly on the ground. By experience, no one spoke until Kinai lowered her hand and turned. Everyone relaxed and looked around.

"So," Kiba started. "How come we've already stopped? It's not that late."

Kinai smirked and took her bag off. "Nothing goes by your nose, ne, Kiba-kun? Well, not usually…" she added with a tiny hint of sarcasm and pointed at the darkening sky. The obscure clouds had come much closer within a few minutes, and Kiba kept looking at them almost dumbfounded.

"I would rather have continued for a couple of hours," Kinai continued, "but I fear that we can't run from that thunderstorm… It would be safer for us to stay here until the worst has drifted away. Besides, there are some things I need to discuss with you."

Hinata and Kiba looked intensely at her as she let her last words linger in the air.

Kinai rose energetically and clapped her hands. "Well then! We need to set camp before the storm reaches us!"

Hinata and Kiba exchanged a brief glance, but immediately started setting the tents while Kinai secured their food and equipment. If the storm decided to let its water spill on them, she would at least make sure their provisions were safe. Or else it would be a long journey.

When Kinai turned around, Kiba and Hinata had almost finished setting the camp. She smiled to herself and patted Wolf on top of his head. It was nice the kids had become this independent by themselves. With a frown she turned to look at the sky one final time before taking off in search for firewood, so that they could have at least one proper meal. Sure, Soldier's Pills were satisfying, but they couldn't outdo the smell and taste of real food.

It didn't take long before Kinai had gathered enough wood to start a solid fire and soon, the fire was crackling peacefully. Hinata was preparing the food since Kinai had given almost fifty different reasons why she wasn't able to cook at this moment and had shoved various things into Hinata's arms, earning a suspicious glare from Kiba and Akamaru. But fortunately, Hinata knew how to cook in less than no time and soon, they were all equipped with a delicious bowl of simple miso soup. They ate in silence, which allowed them all to gather their thoughts, but soon enough, the pressing silence got too much for Kiba. He placed his bowl for Akamaru to lick and folded his arms annoyed over his chest.

"Say, Kinai-sensei. We've travelled for almost three days by now, but as far as I know, we are not exactly sure what is going on!"

Hinata lowered her chopsticks and stared at the ground, but proceeded to give a small 'Mm' in approval. Akamaru just yapped and jumped into Kiba's jacket. Wolf gave the little ninken an irritated stare and yawned unaffected.

Kinai just continued eating her ramen much to Kiba's exasperation. When she finally put her bowl down, she looked at her teammates with a humoured glint in her eyes. "You both know that our mission is about escorting a Feudal Lord, correct?"

Both nodded.

"His name is Chichiya and he is the Daimyou from the Marsh Country, Numa no Kuni. The Marsh Country has been allied with the Fire Country and Konoha for many years, and they appreciate us as their escorts, which is why most of the missions we accept from them is about escorting. Lately, they haven't needed us; however, with the commotion in the surrounding countries, they are compelled to seek help elsewhere. "

Kinai trailed off and leaned back a bit so that she rested on her hands. Kiba and Hinata exchanged a look.

"Where does the Daimyou stay at this moment?" Hinata fixed her gaze on their captain. Kinai sighed and scratched her head.

"At this moment he resides in Yama no Kuni, by a fellow Feudal Lord due to some negotiations. It seems as though he succeeded, but that is irrelevant to our mission. What is important is that the Mountain Country is two countries ahead of Hi no Kuni. Which leads us to the unspoken problem." Kinai shifted forward, pulling a map out of her hip pouch. She spread it out in front of her teammates.

She pointed at a spot near a border village. "We are currently around this area. The village there is called Fukutaza, and in a few hours we will arrive to it. This also means that in a half day or so we will reach the border."

She shifted to look at her two teammates.

Kiba folded his arms over his chest once more and looked at the map. "The straightest way to Yama no Kuni will go through both Rain and Bird…"

Kinai nodded. "Going through Bird won't be a problem. Toki-sama vouched for that we could travel safely through Bird so we don't have to worry about that. Rain has been very quiet as of late, so we can't be sure about them. But what worries me is Earth."

Wolf raised his head and concentrated on the conversation, as did Akamaru. Hinata and Kiba leaned a bit more forward and Kinai spoke again.

"Through my sources, I have come to now that the Earth shinobi have started stirring. Rumours have it that Earth and Mountain holds a grudge towards each other, and Toki-sama's courier ninja have let us know that Earth shinobi have been seen around."

Hinata started fidgeting with her sleeves. "But… Isn't it possible to take another route?"

To this, Kinai nodded. "I have thought of that possibility. It is possible to travel through River and Sand which leads us round Rain. This way we won't have to deal with possible stray shinobi. However, the journey through Sand is long, far longer than the other, and the deserts will slow us down. Earth won't dare try invading Sand so this way, we will be safe if we can get the Daimyou escorted through Mountain and get there, but we have to be fast to keep the time limit. The Daimyou needs to be in the Tea Country on a specific time. Our job is to escort him back to Fire where we meet up with a group of travellers. When the time comes, it is up to the Daimyou to decide which way he wants us to take."

Kiba nodded and sniffed. "So to keep the time limit, we either have to be extremely fast, or extremely lucky."

Kinai chuckled at his obvious sarcasm. "Exactly, Kiba-kun." Kiba huffed.

"I don't know which I prefer."

Kinai smiled. She didn't want them to think they were a hindrance to the mission, though she had to admit they would have a hard time keeping up with her. They were only kids, for Kami's sake. Nevertheless, their trip to the Sand border had already taken a bit more time than Kinai originally planned it to, so that left her with the only decision possible…

Kinai sat back and looked intensely at her teammates. "Due to my worries of Earth and a little of Rain, I say we are better of being safe than sorry. It's better to be a little late than ending up killed."

To this, Akamaru yapped and Wolf let out a small sound as if snickering. Kinai fixed her gaze at to two ninken. "What's so funny?"

Akamaru yapped again and hid in Kiba's jacket. Wolf rose and trudged off. Kiba snickered as Akamaru continued laughing and Hinata blushed with a small smile.

"What?" This only left Kinai in utter confusion? "What is so funny?"

"… Was it the 'being late'-part?" This made Kiba's knees buckle in laughter and Hinata's blush deepen.

"…"

Wolf barked and lay down again.

"… Come on, guys? It wasn't that funny…"

Kiba just continued laughing.

* * *

When the laughing finally had stopped, Kinai was finally able to send them off for the night, leaving her alone by the fire. She sighed and stretched, making her back pop. She had singlehanded decided to take watch, just in case. Even though they were still inside the borders, a ninja was never able to relax completely. With yet another look at the map, she quickly sketched the route which would be the best to take. She decided not to lead them too close to Earth, but since they still needed to keep the time limit, they couldn't take the route through River and Sand. However, since Kinai had decided to stay as far from Earth as possible, they would travel parallel with the River and Sand borders. That way they even avoided Amegakure. Then, when they came further into Rain, they could pick up the straightest and shortest way to Mountain. This way they were both avoiding unnecessary contact with other ninja _and_ being fast. Kinai nodded and rose, stuffing the map back in her hip pouch.

Wolf padded towards her again and she allowed herself a small yawn. This was already getting on her nerves. With two countries around them with an unsure status towards Konoha, the situation wasn't going to be easy.

Dusting herself off, she started checking the tents and the provisions, making sure that everything was tied properly. With a small sigh she eyed the sky once more and shuddered. It was going to be a long and cold night.

* * *

The thunderstorm hit them suddenly that even though Kinai had been prepared for the worst, the thunderstorm still took her unawares. It didn't even take time to announce itself by dripping; no, it had to do it by gushing out every single drop of water it could contain. Kinai shook her wet hair out of her eyes, but as soon as she had cleared her sight, the wind hit her mercilessly in the face and whirled the loose strands around her face again. The wet locks of hair clung heavily to her, framing her face. The hitai-ate which used as head band soaked as well as the rest of her clothes, occasionally sending small drops of water down her spine.

Shielding her eyes from the water, Kinai looked up cursing the weather soundlessly. The thunderstorm had been heavier than she first thought. Once again she tugged the wet strands behind her one ear, only to leave room for new stray tresses, as she stood up for the fifth time the last hour. The wind roared and threatened to knock her over if she didn't sit down again. Stretching her back, she took a round in the camp, making sure everything stayed in place. One of the tent pegs had been pulled up by the wind, leaving the canvas to flap uncontrollable. With a firm grip and a heavy knock, it had been pushed into the ground again. Luckily, the provisions had been hidden well so that the rain wouldn't soak it.

She opened the tents to take a look into it. Both Hinata and Kiba seemed to sleep almost undisturbed, which wasn't strange, since they hadn't had much rest as of late. Even though the night had turned out rough, Kinai was sure both of them would feel almost fully rested by tomorrow, given the Soldier's Pill Kinai had advised them to take. Only Akamaru seemed to have trouble sleeping since he lifted his head when Kinai peeked in.

A smile graced the chuunin's face. "Don't worry, pup. I'll have something for you in the morning. I just need as many eyes and noses as possible on this journey." She patted him reassuring on his head. "And besides, you are going to get carried most of the way, aren't you?" she finished with a smirk. Akamaru yapped lowly and wagged his tail. Kiba stirred in his sleep and turned over with a frown gracing his brow. Kinai closed the tent again and turned around.

The storm seemed to finally settle down. She shuddered as another drop of water hit the base of her neck.

When having finished her check-up, Kinai sat down under a tree to use as shelter from the storm. Wolf leaped down from the tree he had been using as a lookout and landed next to Kinai. She smiled and shook the water out of her eyes.

"I'm going to rest for a bit. You wake me if something happens, 'kay?" The canine sat down with pricked up ears. Kinai grinned and closed her eyes. She just needed a few hours, and it would be a shame to wake the kids. She would get proper rest soon enough.

* * *

When Hinata woke after a rough night, she sat up with a disoriented look on her face. As far as she could see she was inside a tent. Why was that so? Ah, yes. The mission.

Hinata lay back with a sigh. Then sat up again abruptly. _The mission!_ She jumped out of the sleeping bag and all but stumbled out of the tent. With much effort she managed to stay on her feet. Kiba, however, was not as lucky. He stumbled out of his tent, tangled up in his sleeping bag causing him to loose balance and land in the greatest puddle of water he could possible find. He escaped the fierce sleeping bag under lots of swearwords which made Hinata's cheeks turn crimson.

Not far from the disoriented teens, a happy fire crackled greedily. That was also when a sudden smell of ramen hit their noses. And laughter hit their ears. Which made Kiba swear and Hinata blush again.

"Why good morning to you two, too," Kinai laughed, handing both of them a bowl of ramen. Hinata accepted one with a mighty blush which made it look like it threatened to blow off her head. Kiba escaped his now soaked sleeping bag with a final swearword and took the other one without a word.

Kinai grinned again. "So talkative this morning, are we, Kiba-kun?" Said boy just completely ignored the chuunin and sat down. Akamaru followed him, seemingly droopy-eyed and lay down beside him. Kinai grinned and threw an energy bar over to him which he ate happily.

Hinata silently ate the ramen which actually wasn't burned at all and actually tasted rather good.

"Um, Kinai-sensei…" she started carefully.

"Hm?"

"Um… I thought… um…. You said… last night… that you couldn't… cook…" she finished in a small voice.

Kinai only laughed. "Yeah, that's right. I can't cook anything other than Ramen. You see, even _I_ can't manage to burn the water."

Hinata smiled with a small blush.

As they continued eating in silence, a bird suddenly made its appearance in the glade. It landed elegantly on Kinai's shoulder and started ruffling its feathers as if to make everyone present aware of it. Kinai just continued eating whereas Hinata and Kiba eyed the bird. It was an almost black falcon with a white set of wing tips. Its dark eyes bore themselves into Kiba's staring ones, until a shift of Kinai's shoulder broke the eye contact. It had a message bound to its leg. The two genin eyed each other thoughtfully.

The chuunin didn't say a word until she finished her food, and the falcon waited more or less patiently. When Kinai finally placed her bowl in front of her, she removed the message from the falcon's leg, which it stretched out, expectantly. When she had removed the message, she dispelled the bird and started to read the message. She nodded to herself, unaware that she was being watched.

"Good," she said and looked up. Hinata and Kiba looked intensely at her, which caught Kinai a bit offhand.

Their intense, almost nervous gaze almost made Kinai chuckle. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm just not used being teamed up with genin…" She tried to make it sound casually, but somehow she failed at that point. But it still was true. Being, what you could call 'special chuunin', if that title was suitable. She was used to go either alone or together with other chuunin or jounin. And even though genin often were kids, these two shouldn't be treated like kids. Teenagers were a difficult phenomenon.

Kinai decided to rub the uneasiness off and rose. She cleared her throat and said in her usual mission voice, "I just got some news from Bird about how the land lies, and as the things are now, we should be able to move with no fears of an unpleasant encounter." She turned and continued, "Pack up you stuff. We will be leaving soon."

"Sensei," Kiba started. Kinai turned again and eyed him.

"Hm?"

"You always sound as if someone's going to come for us…."

Hinata nodded. "Yes," she continued in a faint voice. "It's a bit pessimistic… Sensei…"

Kinai's smile turned grim, sending shivers down the genin's spine.

The chuunin turned again with the words, "Pack up your things. We will be leaving in fifteen minutes."

Hinata and Kiba eyed each other once again before both boring their eyes into the sensei's back. There was something about that smile they didn't like…

* * *

Once again on their way, Kinai had switched from being in the front to bringing up the rear. The two teens had been unusually quiet since they broke up. Well, that didn't mean much for Hinata's part, but the silence was heavy and strained. The only time someone spoke, was when Kinai told them which road to pick and when to change course. They even started flinching at sudden movements, far more than they should. It was almost as if they expected anyone to attack them in and out of season. Kinai frowned. This was fine enough, but at this stage, they would wear themselves down even before the situation got nasty itself.

Kinai sped up a little until she jumped side by side with the two of them. As they looked at her, she shifted her gaze forward and pointed. "There's the border to Rain," she said as their eyes followed her finger. "From now on, we need to be careful. We step in on foreign land and we don't know how they will react. Therefore, you must follow my direct orders… Savvy?" she added with a grin. But neither of the two found her humour very funny. Kinai merely shrugged and sped up in the front.

"Kiba," she turned her head to look at the boy. "When we go into Rain, I'll have you in front. Hinata," she turned to look at the Hyuuga. "You'll be in the middle. With your Byakugan, you can easily scan our surroundings, and with Kiba's and Akamaru's noses, we can locate the possible attackers." The two of them nodded.

"I'll bring up the rear together with Wolf. If you sense anything strange, tell me immediately. No matter what you might think it is. Understood?"

"Hai!"

Kinai smiled. "Good."

All three of them sped up further and continued, until Kinai signalled them to stop. Without a word, she found the map in her hip pouch and motioned her teammates to take a look at the route she had sketched. She quickly explained her thoughts to them, and when she was sure they had understand, she motioned them to take up their places. She had quickly sketched the route into each of their maps – just in case – and when everyone seemed ready, Kinai motioned them to take off. Watching their backs, Kinai gave away to her thoughts. The kids knew what was expected of them that were for sure. But what bothered them was that they had to be prepared for and unknown enemy, who probably would, would not attack, and Kinai _knew_ this bothered them. Had their mission been a clear _Fight-the-enemy-rescue-the-princess-and-return-home-safely_-mission, everything would have been more or less easier. But this was supposed to be an escort mission. It had only been rated B because of the location of the client. Genin weren't even allowed to take B ranks, but due to lack in shinobi, even genin had to take higher ranked missions.

The chuunin sighed again. She just hoped the mission went smooth and without nasty surprises…

* * *

**Phew... I don't hope I lost anyone during the chapter... My friend told me he completely lost track of all the countries when reading this one. But I just had so much fun researching XD**

**I think things might turn out a bit more interesting from now on.. But just guessing. The schedule might also become a bit more bumpy until summer holidays, but I'll try to keep up.**

**About the countries... Some of them might not be located correctly, since I had to improvise, sorry, but it had to fit in.**

**Reviews keep me alive!!!**

**Love, Moonshae**


	5. An Unpleasant Encounter

***Edit* Sorry for the double-post, but my internet and just wouldn't co-orporate... and then something weird happened. Anyway, the real chapter:**

**Finally! Here's the long waited update for you all :) ****In the meantime I've entered the university, so besides studying, all my spare time is devoted to my hobbies. In fact, I've started writing a new story for Transformers. It doesn't have a name yet, but I'm working on it :)**

**This little piece just refused to be finished, but now I think I'm satisfied with it. I hope things are taking an interesting turn in this. I spent a lot time researching while I wrote this.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I feel so happy when I open my mail to find a small review waiting for me to read. Thanks to y'all!**

**Here we go. ****This time I rather liked the title :P**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own anything… The ****jutsus are inspired from another fandom… I translated them myself by the way.**

**Warnings: Things are getting exciting...  
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* * *

  
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**C****hapter 4: An unpleasant encounter**

"Byakugan!"

Hinata looked around again with the Byakugan activated while Kiba sniffed the air more and more often. Seemingly, no one was to be located so far. No civilian, nor shinobi. This made the two genin both relax and tense up, simply because it was a bit disturbing. Had they been able to at least locate someone, they knew what they had to expect, but wandering in the dark only made both of them nervous.

Kinai watched the two genin getting more and more nervous. She somehow regretted having told them this much, but on the other hand, as a captain she ought to inform her teammates whatsoever. Watching the Hyuuga activate her Byakugan for the fifth time within an hour, she sped up beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hinata-chan," she smiled at her. "I know that what I told you made both of you worried, but _please_… Save your energy to the real thing. It is fine to take a check on things once in a while, but constantly using your Byakugan will only cause chakra depletion in the end. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?" the chunin ended with a wink. Hinata blushed and immediately turned off her Byakugan. Kinai gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and fell behind again. Even though she hadn't managed to calm the girl down completely, Hinata continued in a more relaxed pace and didn't constantly use her Kekkei Genkai.

The special chunin couldn't blame the two genin for their nervousness. Being the battle trained warrior she was, Kinai was used to this feeling of nothingness, but being together with two less experienced kids always was extra unnerving. Scanning the surroundings, she let her mind wander and thought back to her conversation with the Hokage a few days prior. Oh how she wished she was back in her classroom with her children again instead of the kami-forsaken forest.

They had already travelled pretty far since they broke up from their camp. The Rain forest was also marked by the previous thunderstorm. Occasionally, a tree blocked the way through the forest's ground, causing Kinai and her team to move around in the treetops. This way they could also move faster given that they could run as the crow flies. And when they came across a river or a lake, they had most likely broken their banks. It seemed that the team had avoided being in the centre of the thunderstorm.

Wolf snorted to her left, leaving her to look wondering at him. She followed his gaze with a curious look, but what met her eyes made her disappear from her current post. She reappeared in front of Kiba within a blink of an eye with a firm fist lifted in immediate halt. The two genin stopped as fast as they could without skidding on the wet branches. None dared to speak until Kinai lowered her hand or gave other orders. She pointed firmly towards the ground just under them making the two genin follow her finger.

Right below them stood three men, one of them clad in black with a blood red scarf around his waist and a huge sword draped over his shoulder, the other clad in a huge armor with heavy pauldrons covering his shoulders. His weapons couldn't be seen, but they were most likely hidden under the wide drapery which almost hid the huge man. He wore a black cloth to cover the lower half of his face.

The third man appeared to be either a sales man or a farmer travelling through the forest because beside him stood a mule hitched to a carriage.

Kinai shot a glance back to get the two genin's attention. Both caught her look as she soundlessly formed the words _missing-nin_ with her mouth.

The three of them suppressed their chakra levels even further as they crouched near the trunk of the tree. The special chunin motioned them to stay completely still, but yet to spy on the three strangers. Hinata carefully activated the Byakugan, but kept her chakra level at a minimum while Kiba analyzed their scents. Kinai signaled them to stay where they were and suddenly disappeared. For a moment both of them seemed confused until Hinata located their captain behind a tree near the three men. They needed all that information they could procure.

The biggest of the ninja glared intimidating at the older man, everything about him _daring _anyone to move as much as a finger without his permission. The smaller of the two went through his belongings and made the carriage undergo a rather rough look treatment. Said ninja jumped onto the carriage body and carelessly drew his titanic sword with no effort at all, mercilessly started poking through the cloth draped belongings of the man which he didn't bother touch out of clear boredom. He also made sure to destroy whatever he felt like. He didn't even have to worry about being stopped since no one dared make a move as long as he was with his comrade. When he didn't find anything satisfying on the carriage, he swung himself over the side of the wagon after kicking one final vase over causing it to shatter.

The old man winced at the sound of the shattering earthenware, but dared not to make a move under the fierce gaze of the huge armor clad ninja. He winced again when the slimmer of the two raised his voice.

"It seems as though we were unlucky yet again, Sanji, my friend," he said, his voice too light and far too happy. The big man just grumbled in reply, making the old man shrink in fear.

"And we are not happy about that, now are we?" that same piercing voice exclaimed happily, earning yet another rumble from his 'friend'. The slimmer man trotted niftily up to the old man and flung his arm around his shoulder.

"Alas, we can't change that fact," he said dramatically and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair after which he leaned close into the older man, close enough to let his warm breath ghostly graze the man's ear.

He bared his teeth and hissed dangerously into the man's ear, all grace and niftiness long forgotten, his eyes now shining insanely, "But we can't have that, now can we?"

The old man shuttered with fear, but immediately shook his head.

The slim ninja smiled maliciously and let go of the other. As he rose to his full height and turned, Kinai noticed the forehead protector around his arm. Besides being battle worn, the metal, indicating the native soil of a ninja, showed the jagged line signifying the neighbor country, Kusa no Kuni – the Land of Grass. But, as any other missing-nin, the ninja had scratched a horizontal line over the mark indicating that they had abandoned their village. Kinai couldn't help wondering why missing-nin dared 'hunt' in their own neighbor country, since their own country would do everything in their power to stop them. Her thoughts, however, were abruptly broken at the sound of the old man's next words.

"I am truly sorry, sir, but I am not hiding anything. I have told you everything I know." The man had started wringing his hands nervously. "Please, let me go. I have done what you asked of me."

The blonde haired ninja turned around with his arms spread, giving away a little laughter. "Let you go? Why of cause. Sanji, let the poor man go." He now stood in front of the man with a wide smile.

"It'll be my pleasure. Go on. And it shall be in my deepest pleasure to _hunt you DOWN_!" The wide smile turned into a snarl as the ninja roared the last three words.

The old man backed away, horrified and anxious of the younger man. The mule tried to escape out of fright, but the huge ninja, Sanji, prevented it from doing so. The blonde haired man straightened and calmly ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"Listen," he said, calm once again. "I give you one simple task. _One_. Still you manage to fail me. Do you even _remember_ your task, hmm?"

The old man nodded, shaking. "T-to find information on the feudal lord being led through R-rain, sir."

All three Konoha-nins gaped surprised. Hinata and Kiba quickly exchanged a glance and sought for their captain between the trees not far from the wagon. Kiba fiercely clutched his hands, turning his knuckles white, while Hinata gulped and desperately searched between the trees to find the older chunin. Kinai clenched her fists and bit her lip. This mission was taking an extremely nasty turn, not like she had hoped. Why were two missing-nin so interested in a simple feudal lord? Shouldn't their priorities lie within more classified missions than a simple feudal lord? Unless they did it for money. Or worse, for the sake of conspiracy towards country bonds! With a muted grunt she banged her back head into the tree which she hid behind. _Damn… I knew I should have stayed in bed with Kakashi…_

She tried to block the piercing voice of the missing-nin leader to collect her thoughts and figure out how to go on from here when she heard a yell.

"Hinata!"

* * *

  
The two genin hid in complete silence, suppressing their chakra. Hinata had long ago gotten accustomed to use the Byakugan, causing her to suppress her chakra even with the Byakugan activated. This way she could spy on the enemy while hiding which made the Hyuuga a very good spy. She had yet to become as good as her cousin, Neji, but as of late, she had improved greatly. Even though her personality caused her to become nervous and gave her a lack of self-confidence, she knew what was expected of her in life-threatening situations. However, with her still being a genin, obviously indicated the lack of battle experience. Which was probably why she didn't notice the third ninja.

"Why hello, dear," a silken voice breathed in her ear causing her to shiver coldly. With frightened eyes she slowly turned around, only to meet cold, stone-hard black eyes with a deathly glint playing beneath those coal-black depths.

Hinata stepped closer to the tree trunk with a gasp.

The ninja leaned forward with a flick of his tongue and his cold smile was the only warning…

* * *

  
Kiba only spotted the third ninja when Hinata's pained cry reached his ears and she was kicked in his direction.

"Hinata!" he yelled followed by a grunt as she collided with him, pushing them both off the branch. The Inuzuka barely managed to fling his arms around Hinata before they hid a nearby trunk which sent them to the ground. They hit the ground so hard that Kiba thought he heard something pop in his back.

Akamaru immediately landed beside his master, bristles raised and teeth bared. Kiba got to his feet, spitting blood out in the process. Hinata had been kicked in the side by the third ninja and also came to her feet with a grimace.

As far as Kiba could see, they had landed far too close to the missing-nin whom they had spied on. The third ninja landed not far behind them, still wearing that same, cold expression.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

The two genin spun around to see the blonde haired leader stand in front of them. He bore a smile similar to the third ninja, but his eyes seemed almost insane. Kiba immediately pulled a kunai out while Hinata re-activated the Byakugan and lifted her hands, ready for battle.

"Oh, so you are ninja?" the blonde leader mused out loud. "What a pity. Now we have to kill you." The cold ninja behind them clicked with his tongue again and maliciously licked the edge of a particularly nasty looking tanto with spikes on the backside.

"Kuroki," he purred to the leader. "Can I have the girl? Her temper is just my style."

The leader – Kuroki – rolled his eyes and turned around. "Whatever Shinshi, just get over with it. Sanji, kill the boy and his annoying dog."

Hinata and Kiba made sure to stand back to back, their eyes never leaving their opponents. Akamaru yapped and growled angrily, but stayed close to the two genin. Kiba gulped angrily. Why had neither of them been able to sense the third ninja? And for how long had he been watching them? He couldn't smell him and as far as he had learned, Hinata too hadn't noticed him. This was really frustrating!

With a quick look around, the Inuzuka noticed that neither of them had noticed Kinai yet. At least the enemy wasn't the only one to have the surprise on their side. For now, they just had to tag along. It seemed as though an encounter was inevitable.

* * *

  
Kinai replayed every swear word which she could think of in her mind, cursing the whole situation to a rather unpleasant dimension. _Seems like Lady Fortuna likes a good laugh,_ she thought sarcastically.

Wolf appeared to her left and gave her a look which said all - he, too, hadn't been able to locate the third ninja.

"Damn it all and damn that Old Slug," the chunin whispered fiercely. Quickly and soundlessly she moved away from the glade and with a few hand seals she had successfully made a handful of clones transformed into small deer. With a smirk she placed an explosive tag under the clones' stomachs before she sent them off in direction of the glade. "This'll teach them."

* * *

  
Hinata gulped with her hands raised. What should they do? They couldn't take out three missing-nin all by themselves. Kiba seemed to have come to that conclusion too.

"Hinata," he whispered so low that she barely heard him. "We need to distract them so we can get to a safer place in favor of ourselves. If we…"

The cold ninja behind them looked at them suspiciously, but shifted his gaze when a small herd of deer entered the glade. They raised their heads when they spotted the humans.

"Oh," Kiba whispered again, this time smirking. "Plan's changed, Hinata." The Hyuuga looked around, seeing the deer. Spotting the mark under their stomachs, she nodded and prepared herself for what might come.

Kuroki whipped around with a groan. "Get over it and KILL them! I don't have all day!" He threw a few shuriken towards the deer, scaring them but missing in hitting them. In their fright they ran straight towards the small group of ninja, but when they came close enough to each ninja…

BOOM!

The entire glade was filled with smoke from the clones and the now exploded tag underneath them. The ninja-leader roared out in frustration and tried to clear his eyes while he constantly shrieked, "Kill them, KILL them!" But as blinded as he was, as blinded were his comrades leaving them to almost gape dumbfounded when the smoke cleared revealing an empty glade.

* * *

  
When the tags exploded, Kinai saw her chance to save the two genin. On her way she knocked the old man unconscious and grabbed him along too. Then she sped off towards her teammates.

"Hinata! Kiba!" The two genin didn't know what to expect, but were ready for her nevertheless. She quickly grabbed them and sped off, wanting to lay the glade as far behind as possible.

As she reached around their stomachs, they were slightly caught off guard but managed to grab a hold of her upper arm, making sure she wouldn't drop them. With a grunt Kinai managed to jump out of the glade carrying three bodies of almost completely dead weight without attracting much attention to them. The smoke would eventually clear fast, and they had to be as far away as possible to have at least a small chance of fighting back.

"Nice distraction," she heard Kiba mumble with a smirk. She grinded her teeth as she continued her pace, but managed to smile down to him.

"Thanks. It won't hold them up for long, though."

As an unwanted answer to her call, three long tentacles shot out from between the trees only missing them by mere inches. Hinata managed not to shriek and immediately activated the Byakugan.

"It seems as though they are using some sort of plant jutsu," she reported to her captain. Kinai didn't know whether to smile or sulk at that information, but managed a smirk. "Good work, Hinata. See if you can locate the main focus of chakra points."

Hinata nodded and thoroughly scanned their attackers.

Putting more chakra on her steps, Kinai pressed herself to run in a zigzag patterned route to keep their attackers as far away as possible. Hinata quickly shifted her gaze from beneath them to the left when she heard a noise.

"Sensei!" was all she managed to yell as the huge ninja lunged for them. As Kinai landed on a solid branch, she immediately twisted her body to feed her speed to her attack. She jumped from the branch, barely avoiding the huge man's grasping fists and twisted her body in the air, sending all of her speed into the fatal kick she proceeded to deliver to the back of the man's neck. It sent him flying towards the ground through branches and leaves, but the chunin made no move to wait for him to hit the ground. She pushed forward in attempt to catch up with the lost time.

Just as she had reached full speed again, the tentacles shot up through the leafy canopy only to this time to wrap themselves around Kinai's ankles. The sudden stop in motion made Kinai loose her grip on her cargo, sending the three of them flying forwards. The two genin quickly recovered and landed safely on a nearby branch. Hinata managed to catch Akamaru while Kiba got a firm grip on the unconscious man.

Kinai, however, didn't manage to land as gracefully as her two acquaintances. The climber tentacles stopped her every movement, forcefully slamming her against the thick branch she already had used to take off from. Her head slammed heavily against the branch, but neither climber nor chunin thought twice before acting.

"Take the man and run," Kinai managed to yell at Kiba before yet another tentacle shot up from between the trees to latch around her throat, successfully yanking her backwards. Seeing the ground approach her faster, she braced herself for the unavoidable collision with the hard forest ground.

Kiba wasted no time in waiting for his captain to collide with the ground. She had given them a direct order and he didn't have in mind to try to disobey it. Hinata followed him quickly, knowing that the two of them had to work together until Kinai returned. They had to stay alive and don't do anything unnecessarily endangering. Both had figured out why the chunin had bothered to safe the old man. He obviously knew something about their mission, as did the missing-nin, but since they were most unlikely to speak willingly, they had to be content with the old man's knowledge. So, first of all, they had to secure the old man. And Kiba knew just how to. But in order to carry out his plan, Kiba needed a distraction. If they could distract the two remaining ninja enough, Kinai's ninken and Akamaru would be able to hide the man.

"Hinata," he whispered, keeping his voice as low as possible knowing that at least one of the two remaining nins was following them. "We need to hide this man. If it comes to the point where we have to fight, we'd be better off not having to worry about protecting a civilian. And as though they didn't have enough problems, he'd noticed that the hugest of the missing-nin had resumed his pursuit**.**

Hinata nodded quickly though unsure of what Kiba might have in mind, but understanding his logic.

Kiba quickly thought over what he had his weapons purse. Kunai, shuriken and few smoke bombs. Well, that would have to do! He quickly scanned their surroundings. Damn! He wasn't as smart as Shikamaru with this stuff! Almost unconsciously he touched his pocket and to his surprise, he found a small roll of wire. A wicked plan started forming in his mind and he smirked deviously.

"Hinata, I have a plan. When I throw these…"

* * *

  
Kinai had collided hard with the forest ground as the tentacles pulled her away from the genin. She pulled forcefully at the climber tentacle around her neck and managed to rip it off, throwing it a side as she shot up in a defensive pose, kunais drawn. She eyed her attackers. The leader, Kuroki, stood with the arms folded over his chest and smiled evilly while Shinshi dispelled his tentacles. Kinai breathed angrily. She had heard of ninjas from the Grass with these special and deadly abilities, but had never met one. And she just _had_ to have two less experienced under her command. Just great.

She spun the kunai in her left hand and lifted it defensively.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Kuroki thought sarcastically and imitated a thoughtful pose. "Konoha ninjas? This far from their village? Isn't this suspicious?"

The ninja with the piercing eyes folded his arms across his chest and threw his head as to fling his hair behind his shoulder. His cold smile mirrored his expression as he eyed the Konoha ninja.

"Well," he continued. "If you don't want to answer freely, I'll just have Shinshi here _make_ you talk!"

Kinai thought of her possibilities. The ninja with the cold face appeared to be the one using tentacles, but she had yet to learn how to defend herself against the so called leader, Kuroki. He hadn't revealed which special jutsu he mastered, but Kinai figured it had to be something like the other one's skills. Whatever it would be, she needed to be prepared for the worst. She just hoped Hinata and Kiba would be fine on their own…

She managed to jump out of the way just as a tentacle slammed down towards her and collide with the earth where she had been moments ago.

Shinshi lunged for her again, causing her to dodge it by leaning horizontally backwards. When it pulled back, she immediately jumped out of the way as another came down for her head. Rolling out of the way and onto her feet again, Kinai resumed her original fighting pose, never taking her eyes of the attacker.

"Well, well!" she heard Kuroki clap. "How fast you are. And how good reflexes." He smiled widely and placed a hand on his hip. "Take care of her, Shinshi, but don't kill her yet. We might have use of her knowledge." With that he turned around and walked over to the carriage. He jumped onto it and sat down with one leg crossing the other and folded his arms over his chest.

"It'll be my pleasure, Kuroki. And I'll try not to hurt her _that_ much," Shinshi said while licking his tanto. Kinai didn't know whether to laugh or sneer. The whole situation seemed all laughable, hadn't it been for the ninja's skills.

Shinshi's smile widened momentarily. He hastily formed a couple of hand seals ending up with his hands folded in 'snake'. With a flick of his tongue, Shinshi activated his jutsu, "_Shizen no jutsu: Morona ne_!" For a moment, nothing happened, but Kinai wouldn't be fooled. The vicious smile Shinshi bore was real enough.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and before Kinai knew where she was, a thigh thick thorny root shot up. In a blink of an eye, Kinai felt it rip though her chest.

* * *

  
Kiba cast a sidelong glance at the huge ninja following them. He had suddenly appeared from the trees and resumed his hunt. They had managed to shake him off, but he was fast for his size and had quickly found them again. Kiba knew they had to get rid of the old man right now!

With a nod at Hinata, they jumped towards the ground to continue their running, but as soon as the huge man followed, Kiba threw five smoke bombs. The little balls exploded as soon as they touched the ground, effectively hiding the two genin. Hinata then activated the Byakugan and called forth Wolf while Kiba gave one end of the wire to Akamaru. Hinata placed the old man on Wolf's back, making sure he wouldn't fall of before she returned to Akamaru's side to grab the wire. When the ninja ran into the wire, Hinata and Kiba quickly ran around him, tying him up in it. As the smoke cleared, the huge man was trapped in wire with the two genin standing in fighting poses in front of him, their cargo gone.

The huge man grunted. "So," he grumbled in a deep, coarse voice. He moved under the heavy pauldrons on his shoulders. "You have finally decided not to play 'tag' anymore?" Hinata lifted her hands and Kiba tightened his grip on his kunai. The ninja flexed his shoulders once more, making the wire groan warningly. Kiba knew that the wire wouldn't hold the man for long, but at least they now had their hands free.

The huge man flexed his muscles again with a dark stare. "_Shizen no jutsu_."

Hinata gulped.

"_Hari no ude_!"

The huge ninja pressed his arms against the wire, making it pop immediately as though it had been made or silk. The two genin jumped back to avoid getting hit by the fierce wire as it broke. The ninja slowly stepped away from the broken wire, stepping slowly towards the two genin. The cloth around his massive body and face flapped as he walked.

"Now. Let's stop these games**.**" He tore the cloth and the pauldrons off revealing arms as thick as Hinata's body and hands so big that they easily could crush her head.

With an evil smirk he twisted his scarred face in a dangerously way.

"My turn."

* * *

***ducks the stones* ****SORRY! So sorry for the major cliffhanger, but it just felt right to end it here. I can assure you that I'm already working on the next chapter, so if everything goes as planned, you won't wait as long this time.**

**I hope everyone liked this chapter. I, for once, rather liked it and the way it turned out. I usually don't think I'm that good at writing action scenes, but it didn't turn out that bad. Don't forget to feed the Author :D**

**Translations for jutsus:**

_Shizen no jutsu _: **Nature** **technique**

_Morona ne_: **Double**-**edged** **roots**

_Hari no ude _: **Needle** **arm**

**Love, Moon.**


	6. New Discoveries

**Long time no see! First of all, t****hank you so much for all those lovely reviews and opinions and stuff! Thanks! It really made me happy! I really do hope I replied everyone properly, and also, thanks for either the fav. or alert or whatever your have done. Thanks for simply reading of watching! I am so very grateful! Many of your comment really inspired me.**

**Anyhow, I decided to upload this chapter (after being bribed by my unofficial beta) as a reversed birthday gift. I was told that if I did it today, I'd have an extra gift from my beta :P As you may have noticed, I decided to change the rating because of some parts. I really don't feel like having my 9 yrs. old sis read some of this.**

**This time, the slagging title refused to reveal itself. Damn you!**

**Warnings: Did you notice the change of the rating?**

**Disclaimer: I don't know anything but the plot**

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* * *

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**Chapter 5: New Discoveries**

Kiba dodged the fierce attack as the huge missing-nin kept forcing him backwards. He had activated his jutsu, revealing a terrifying sight: his arms were covered in long, pointy needles much like a cactus, only these needles were about the same length and thickness as each of the man's fingers. He lashed out towards the genin, making them jump away just in time.

The Inuzuka had smirked first. It had seemed to be a short ranged jutsu, excellent in close combat, but his assessment had soon proved to be wrong when the ninja's arm had extended and his fist scraped his arm in the process.

"Damn!" Kiba swore as he landed next to Hinata, clutching his bleeding arm. Akamaru landed on the other side. "How the crap would I know that this psycho would be a walking torture instrument?"

The ninja lashed at them again, making them scatter.

"Hinata!" the Inuzuka yelled over the increasing fierce blows. "Try to distract him. I have an idea!"

"Don't think I will give you time to plan more _games_, Konoha ninja!" Sanji roared and swung his hand towards Kiba. "I'll tear your arms off!"

Kiba barely managed to dodge, hadn't it been for Wolf jumping to rescue. He and Akamaru grabbed each of his legs between their fangs and forcefully swung him downwards. The ninken then let themselves fall down to the earth and disappeared between the trees. When Sanji realized that his prey had disappeared, he lowered his hands until they had reached their normal length.

"Fools," he rumbled. "You can't hide from a plant-user between plants!"

Hinata gulped when Kiba barely managed to escape the blow. Luckily they still had Wolf on their side! She shot a glance towards the missing-nin. Kiba had mentioned something about a plan… She had to distract him somehow. She bit her lip. Long ranged techniques weren't her specialty.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted Kiba between the trees and activated her Byakugan. He hadn't suffered further damage from the blow and the missing-nin had seemingly not found him yet. With a determined nod, she focused her attention on their enemy.

It seemed as though the Kusa-ninja led his main chakra flow into his arms and hands in order to withhold the jutsu. This could actually be convenient. If she could manage to knock off the chakra flow to his arms, their problem could be solved. But that seemed almost too easy to be true. First of all, she had to get to Kiba. And in order to do that, she had to do something very stupid.

* * *

Hinata jumped out of her hiding place and steered for Kiba's hideout. But the moment she entered the glade, the moment did Sanji notice her.

"Found!" he roared and swung his arm towards her. She evaded the attack and continued her run in another direction. The ninja swung his other arm at her with howl, but she dodged again. Actually, Hinata found that whenever she just stayed on the ground, it was easier to avoid the attacks. Well, this could prove useful to her forth coming plan.

The Hyuuga avoided the blow as it collided with the ground and prepared for her counterattack. She flung a handful of shurikens towards the approaching arm, hitting the flesh directly. She dodged the blow as the missing-nin howled in pain.

"Excellent, Hinata!" Kiba yelled as he darted forth. For a moment Hinata felt torn between blushing at the praise and focusing on the opponent, which caused Sanji to land a blow on her. Hinata screamed in pain when she felt the thorns trail over her back as she was thrown against a tree.

But Kiba was quick. He and Akamaru had performed _Juujin Bunshi_ followed by _Shikyaku no Jutsu_, so while the transformed Akamaru lunged for Sanji, Kiba appeared in front of Hinata, bracing her for the collision with the tree. He smirked down to her. "Heh, nice decision. A pity it didn't end well."

Hinata blushed with a pained grimace. "Sorry," she mumbled. When Kiba released her and jumped to help Akamaru, she slowly came to her feet. She eyed her comrades and gritted her teeth. She wouldn't just stand back and be weak. She needed to keep fighting. And she knew just what she would do. Crouching in traditional Hyuuga-position, she focused her chakra into her hands.

"_Juuken_!"

Then, while Kiba and Akamaru distracted the ninja, Hinata ran towards him, dodging the swinging arms in the process and when she was just behind him…

Slam!

The ninja spun a kick towards the genin, hitting her in the chest. But before Hinata was flung away, she managed to touch his shoulder with her right hand, sealing one of the chakra points.

Sanji roared in pain at the unfamiliar chakra being forced into his chakra point.

"Damn you, girl! What did you do to me?" he growled and lunged for her. Not having time to catch her breath after the kick, Hinata forced herself to jump out of the way. With having forced his attention towards her, Kiba and Akamaru had time to perform one of their jutsus. The huge ninja glared furiously at her when she avoided him again.

"_Gatsuuga_!"

The roar made the ninja shift his attention towards the clones, but he didn't manage to avoid the attack before it hit him and flung him away several feet. He crashed through a handful of trees before hitting the ground, lying completely still.

* * *

Shinshi strolled over to the pierced body and tapped it with his foot. When the kunoichi didn't move, he turned his back to the corpse and faced his leader.

"Pity. And here I thought it'd be a fun chit-chat." He smirked evilly at Kuroki and gave a flick with his tongue. Kuroki didn't seem satisfied, though. He had been looking forward to a more intense fight, but all the kunoichi had done was to avoid every single of Shinshi's attacks. It did seem a bit suspicious.

Suddenly, a weird sound caught their attention. The mysterious crackling sound seemingly came from the corpse behind them, but neither made a move to check it out. But when the corpse started smoking, Shinshi knew what was going to happen.

"It's going to blow!"

But the corpse exploded faster than he could retreat, sending him forcefully into a tree and effectively knocking Kuroki down from the carriage. And the spot where the body had been, was now a mess of burnt grass.

Shinshi recovered with a pained grimace and studied his injuries. The blow had left burn scars over his arms and burnt his shirt on the back, leaving the fabric to melt into the skin. He slowly and carefully approached the burnt spot, tense in every muscle.

"What the _hell_ was that?" he cursed confused. He shifted to look at Kuroki who – luckily for _him_ – hadn't taken as much damage. The leader stood up and looked around with wild eyes. "Some kind of self-destruction?"

Kuroki shook his head confused. "I don't know." He reseated himself on the carriage with a wary look around.

"Well, whatever it was, we shouldn't be bothered by it. Though we won't get to cross**-**questionher about that Feudal Lor…" Shinshi was cut off immediately by a sharp kunai being pressed against his throat. Not enough to kill, but clearly enough to pierce the skin.

"Didn't your mother teach you to never turn your back on an enemy?"

The missing-nin froze in his motion. How the…? How was that even possible?

* * *

Kuroki was shocked.

Clearly, he had _never_ seen anything in his life, and he _had_ experienced something extremely weird through his missing-nin years.

The brown haired ninja had reappeared behind Shinshi in less than a blink of an eye, never revealing her presence to the two men. Now she stood behind Shinshi, kunai pressed against his throat, ready to slice it open. Her once dark brown eyes now shone.

He decided to smirk and stared at her with his wild eyes. "So, done dodging, huh?"

Kinai simply stared at him, not the least impressed. Shinshi carefully tried to move her arms, but she kept him in a firm grip, slightly twisting the kunai in warning.

"I may say that I'm impressed. How did you do that?" Kuroki tried again. He had to know everything about his future opponent.

Kinai didn't reply his smirk. Her eyes had darkened, shining almost blackly. "And why would I tell you?"

Kuroki mock-laughed. "Ah, because, clearly, neither of us will live long enough afterwards to remember."

At this, Kinai smirked. "That may be true," she replied coldly, almost sending shivers down her captive's back. Removing the knife from Shinshi's throat, she forcefully pushed him forward, making him stumble from the push. She licked the edge viciously.

"If you really must know, I used the replacement jutsu before you even could prepare your attack." This almost made Shinshi gape.

"Of course, if I only had used a simple Bushin, or Kage Bushin, my little trick wouldn't have worked as well as this did. So, I merely used another Bushin."

Shinshi wondered. "A transformed exploding tag?"

Kinai smirked. "No, would have exploded the moment you touched it. I used a Bushin made from pure chakra, just as in a water clone. Only, with this kind of jutsu, I'd be able to control it with my mind as a Kage Bushin."

Shinshi sneered and transformed his hands into tentacles again. Then he flung one around Kinai's throat. "I'm going to choke you!"

The kunoichi placed a hand around the climber. "Unfortunately, you aren't." The missing-nin stared at her with piercing eyes.

"I have a question for you. How and what do you know about the Feudal Lord?"

At this, Kuroki merely laughed. "And why would you think that I'd just go around telling you?" The tentacle tightened around her throat but the kunoichi didn't move a muscle.

"Because it will be your death otherwise." This made the missing-nin laugh insanely.

"And, if I may ask this rudely, how in _hell_ do you think you can kill us with a little corpse-blowing, hmm?"

The hand around the climber tightened. "Like this."

A gigantic electric source blasted through the tentacle and the owner, sending him to his knees screaming like a mad, before the source stopped and he dropped limply to the ground.

Kuroki stared at the kunoichi. For a moment Kinai thought she saw a hint of fear surge through those insane eyes, but the next moment it had disappeared only to be replaced by growing eagerness and a large, wicked smile which told the ninja that this man was utterly mad. The fisted her hands and spread her feet in a fighting posture.

"This is _clearly _going to be interesting."

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru transformed back as Hinata landed beside them.

"Is he…?" was all Hinata asked looking warily. Kiba shook his head. "No, I don't think so." Akamaru yapped as he and Wolf landed beside the two genin. The Inuzuka carefully approached the huge man and gently nudged him with his foot.

"Be careful, Kiba-kun…" Hinata said warily. When the man didn't move, Kiba turned to Hinata. "Let's go find Kinai…"

But as Kiba took a step towards his teammates, a large hand darted out and hit him hard in the back, sending him flying towards Hinata. The Hyuuga managed to catch him, but the power of the hit sent them both to the ground. Sanji rose from his spot and eyes the two teens with wild eyes.

"No one," he barked. "_No one_ dare do that to me and get away with it _alive_!" He formed a few hand seals making the two genin step back in fighting stance. With an evil smirk he lifted his hand to his mouth. "_Hari no shawa: Doku_!" Then he took a deep breath and when he released it**,** a large storm of needles followed.

Hinata reacted quickly. Before the needles got too close, the immediately formed a counterattack. "_Chakra Needle Technique_!" she yelled with her Byakugan activated. When the needles got close enough, she started spinning, fast, sending small blasts of chakra towards the needles. The chakra perfectly cut off the attack, sending the many poisonous needles to the ground.

When Hinata stopped spinning the attack had worn off. She reentered her fighting stance with calm eyes fixed on the huge man.

"I see. You are of the famous Hyuuga clan," Sanji mused. "But that won't help you at all!" He drew a breath again and sent yet a cloud of needles towards them. Hinata started spinning again, cutting off the attack, but when she stopped spinning again the missing-nin was gone.

"W-where did he go?" Kiba asked as he stood up.

"I don't know," Hinata muttered and reactivated her Byakugan. "But I can find out." She felt her body waver a moment but managed not to fall. They really needed to end this soon, or else none of them would have any chakra left. It was a wonder that she could even stand!

"Don't push yourself," she heard Kiba mumble as she shot a look around. Nothing. Hinata furrowed her brow. The huge ninja had vanished like dew before the sun. She extended her vision and finally spotted something. It looked like a hole in the ground or something…

"Kiba-kun! Jump!"

Kiba barely managed to jump out of the way before the big man darted out of the ground where they had been standing just a second ago. He roared and swung a transformed arm towards them, but missed by a few inches.

Kiba saw his chance. "_Dainamikku mākingu_!" he yelled. Akamaru yapped and immediately darted off the ground and jumping over the enemy, peeing on him in the process. Sanji roared when the urine burned in his eyes. Hinata spurted towards the man and hit him a couple of places with her _Juuken_, disappearing before he could hit her.

"Akamaru!" The ninken obeyed his master's voice and landed on his back. Kiba formed some rapid hand seals with a strong look on the ninja. "_Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō_!"

* * *

When Sanji could finally see again, he felt his anger burning on its highest. But when he turned to find the boy and his dog, he was instead met with the sight of a huge, growling and snarling two-headed wolf whose fangs were the size of each of his legs. And more over; the stupid little Hyuuga had managed to hit him again with her technique leaving his chakra points sore and unusable. The ninja cursed his luck and prepared for the upcoming attack

"_Garōga_!"

* * *

Kinai jumped out of the way as another thorny root shot out of the ground. Apparently, Kuroki mastered each of his teammate's techniques. How ironic. The root twisted and swung around in attempt to hit her, but the kunoichi easily moved out of the way.

Kinai landed on her feet and closed her eyes for a brief moment. The chakra within her roared and twisted like a mad stream of energy, blasting and twisting, eager to be let out. The kunoichi drew a shaky breath in attempt to calm herself. It wouldn't do to let this whole mission end up in killing everything within miles.

She barely managed to jump out of the way as another root lunged for her. This whole situation was getting more and more out of hands.

"Not so fiery anymore, are we?" the blond haired man sneered**. ** He had managed to launch more attacks within the last twenty minutes than Kinai would even have thought of using in a whole battle. She felt her heart pound against her chest and eyed the wound on her upper arm. She had been reckless and had been cut by a poisoned flower petal from the blond ninja's latest attack. She knew she had to do something about it soon.

Four tentacles darted towards her forcing her to roll out of the way. She hastily formed a few hand seals as she got to her feet again and darted for the blond-haired man, activating her jutsu in the process. _Blasting hands_ should do the trick. The jutsu covered the user's hands in a layer of raw lightning chakra making the user able to fight without having weapons. Kinai found it better to use than simple weapons at the moment to be sure she hit correctly. Just as she was about to hit Kuroki in the chest with her newly activated jutsu, the man disappeared, seemingly as dew before the sun. Kinai whipped around. Had she missed something?

But before the chunin could react, Kuroki appeared behind her and kicked her hard in the back before launching a new charge of poisoned flower petals. Kinai rolled away from the ninja and pushed off with her hands and had to do a flip-flop to avoid the venomous petals that cut through the skin like little blades. The front of herwaistcoatwas ripped by the sky of petals before they disappeared and she gained a foothold again**.**Kuroki did not waste a second and immediately launched for her, kunais in hands. Kinai raised her hands and folded her fingers around the sharp metal, silently thanking whatever god that was out there for her foresight. Kuroki's speed forced them both a few meters backwards before they stopped.

"Still full of surprises, are we?" he said.

"Always," the kunoichi spat back and kicked him under the chin with her knee. Kuroki rolled away and Kinai sank down to one knee. The poison was clearly starting to work. Her breath was growing ragged and shallow and a short glance at her hands told her that she was shaking slightly. Her eyes landed on the now standing missing-nin. He, too, was obviously affected of having fought her for this long, still he seemed to have some stamina left. He actually reminded her of a certain stubborn blonde who always refused to give up.

Just as Kuroki was about to attack again, a loud boom sounded to their left followed by a huge cloud of smoke and a pained cry. Kinai took advantage ofKuroki's momentarilyinattentionand darted towards him. He barely managed to block her attack with his kunais, but the force of the attack knocked him down so Kinai ended up straddling him.

"I'll only ask you one more time. How do you know about the Feudal Lord?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Kuroki smirked, but did not condescend to answer her.

"Last chance before I kill you as we killed your teammates."

Kuroki merely laughed. "You think you have won? I'll tell you otherwise." After having said that, the blonde ninja slowly seemed to fade into the forest floor. Kinai stared. The force holding her hands in place didn't lessen until she used all her strength to slam her fists into the ground where Kuroki's head had been seconds earlier. She darted to her feet and shot a look around.

Kuroki materialized a moment later next to Shinshi, who he grabbed and disappeared. "We'll meet again, Konoha ninja!" was the last Kinai heard him laugh before the glade turned completely silent.

Kinai dropped the ground, panting like a mad and clutching her wounded arm. A couple of footsteps were heard, but Kinai could already identify who it was. Hinata sat down next to her and looked at her with worried eyes.

"…Sensei?" she asked carefully. Wolf appeared on the kunoichi's other side and gave a small whine. Kinai dragged a hand over her sweaty face. "Damn," she whispered. Kiba and Hinata exchanged a puzzled glance.

The chunin turned to the two genin. "Are you two okay?" Besides looking pale and extremely tired, the two genin didn't look that bad. Kiba's arm had been torn by something ragged and sharp, as had Hinata's back, it would seem. Other than that they had only gotten minor wounds. And she herself had also been let off quite cheaply.

Kiba shot a glance around with a furrowed brow. The glade had suffered greatly under the battle against Kinai and the two missing-nins, but looking back at the bad shape _they_ had left the forest in… he really wasn't surprised. But one thing struck him.

"Where're the ninjas?" Kinai looked at the Inuzuka and sighed.

"It seems as though we have been played with. When I fought their leader, he suddenly disappeared." Hinata rose with a grimace, but managed to look stunned nonetheless.

"That man we fought… He disappeared too… Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun had just performed their _Garōga_ on him, but when he moved to stand and prepare a counterattack, he suddenly vanished," she said and Akamaru yapped in agreement. Kinai nodded and rose as well.

"Where did you leave the old man?" she asked.

It was Kiba who answered. "We hid him a bit from here together with our stuff, under a genjutsu. We tied him up, should he feel the need to run off."

Kinai examined her wound a bit closer. It was starting to leak other fluid than blood and it certainly didn't look good. "Let's just hope the missing-nins don't find him before we do. Let's go find him and then have a look at those wounds, shall we?"

* * *

The man was still where Kiba and Hinata had left him, but before they approached the hiding place, Kinai ensured that no one had followed them or was anywhere nearby. The man was still unconscious and before Kinai decided to wake him up, she injected an anti-vial in her thigh to remove the poison. Kiba and Hinata started tending to their own injuries as Kinai wrapped gauze around her upper arm. Then she crouched in front of the unconscious man and slapped him twice in the face to make him wake up.

The old man jerked awake. His eyes darted from one ninja to another, seemingly afraid his last hour had come. And as soon as Kinai had removed the gag in his mouth, he started blabbering about all and everything.

"Please, I beg you, spare my life, I have wife and children, starving to death! I have always been a decent man, well maybe I have cheated sometimes, here and there, but who hasn't? Who hasn't? Please, fair ninja-lady, spare my miserable life, I swear I will do anything you ask me to, just please don't kill me!"

Kinai considered replacing the gag more than once and given the irritated look of Kiba, the Inuzuka reflected upon the option as well.

"We are not going to kill you. We just need to ask you a few questions."

The man cast a sidelong glance at Kiba and Hinata, then looked back at Kinai. He was seemingly weighing his options. They could easily kill him if they wanted. He gulped. "What is it you want to know? I will tell you anything." Kinai wasn't so sure he meant all he said because he had a wary look in his eyes.

"Those three ninjas… what was your business with them? And what do they, and you, know about a certain Feudal Lord?" The man eyed her first in wonder, then his surprise vaporized as dew before the sun, replaced my confusion.

"I cannot answer thy question, fair ninja-lady, though I would like to."

A very sharp, _very _dangerous-looking kunai appeared in the woman's hand.

The old man gulped. "On the other side…"

"Cut the formalities and answer. Or else I _will_ kill you. Who were those three men?" the kunoichi sneered and held the knife just a tad closer to the man's throat. He gulped and eyed the weapon.

"They didn't ever reveal much to me, but I found out about things on my own. They are missing ninjas from Grass, as you have maybe already noticed, and they hired me to spy on… things… that they needed to know about. Something involving your Feudal Lord."

"What kind of 'things' exactly?"

"Jeez, lady, I really don't know! Um, I mean, I was supposed to listen to a specific target group, mostly soldiers from here and there and travelers and such."

"And what did you find out?"

"About that Chichiya-sama resides in Mountain for the moment and that some ninjas from Konoha are supposed to escort him to the Marsh Country…" Kinai's face darkened. "Wait, those ninjas, that isn't you… is it?" The hand around the kunai tightened alarmingly.

"Continue," the kunoichi said.

The man looked perplexed. "Well, I had to report to Kuroki-sama…, Kuroki, to protect myself and my wife. I swear that's all I know."

"Are you sure?" Wolf appeared beside his mistress, fangs barred and bristles raised. The man gulped again.

"A coup…" he whispered. "I think it is a coup d'état-gagh!" Suddenly, his eyes widened and his mouth opened in an unvoiced scream. Foam gathered in the corners of his lips before it filled the mouth and started running down his throat. Smoke slowly emitted from his nose and eyes, which became bloodshot and looked like they were starting out of his head. Kinai jumped to her feet.

"Get out of the way! He's going to explode!"

The ninjas had barely managed to flee before the man exploded and burned on the spot, only leaving a burnt mass where both he and the tree had been and a foul stench of burnt flesh. Hinata hid her face in her hands and Kiba covered his sensitive nose in his sleeve. When the smoke cleared, the Inuzuka stepped up to their captain.

"What the heck was that?"

"_Jukei no jutsu_," Kinai answered. "I have seen the case before. The jutsu is transferred to the victim to prevent him from spilling serious information. Seemingly, it didn't work as well this time… It seems as though there is more to this whole incident than I thought."

Kinai folded her arms over her chest rethought what the man had said. A coup d'état… who would have guessed. But they couldn't be completely sure about an old man's words, could they? But on the other hand, _Jukei no jutsu_ had been made to prevent commoners to spill valuable information, but had been categorized as a forbidden technique, so something in what he said had to be correct. And if that was the case, then this B ranked mission was slowly turning into an A… and she wasn't equipped for an A mission, neither were the kids. She cast a short glance on the two genin. They had both been hurt in the fight with the missing-nins, but they would survive. As far as Kinai could see it was only superficial, though she probably should use a little medical field training on Hinata's back to prevent infection. Mountain was still far away, and if she should run around like this all the way back to Konoha, she could easily catch a fever.

"Kiba-kun…" the kunoichi called out, catching the Inuzuka's attention. "Take Akamaru and Wolf with you and patrol the area and make sure nobody is following us while I tend to Hinata-chan's back. Then be ready to take off again. We have already wasted too much valuable time here." Kiba saluted and disappeared with the two ninkens.

Kinai kicked some dust over the burnt space where the old man had been moments ago. They needed to clean this mess up, too, before they could leave. It would be best to hide every trace of battle for the Rain, but since their time was scarce, they had to hurry.

"What do we do now, sensei," Hinata muttered shyly. Kinai smirked. "We won't be doing anything until I have had a look at your back," she said and activated a healing jutsu.

"Take your shirt off."

* * *

**Thank you for reading. And no, don't get stupid ideas about the last sentence. I'****m sorry if it sprouts weird thoughts in your minds about bad hentai, but that is plainly not the point.**

**I am sorry to say that the next chapter may be a little while before ****being uploaded as I have taken on somebody's advice and have begun to rewrite the prologue as a beginning. I didn't agree in everything, but that somebody was kind enough to point out some major flaws that I had no idea off. I can see that now, since my knowledge about this fandom hasdeveloped, so I'll be striving to correct my mistakes. I won't, however, change my view on Minato, since at this point I don't know much about him, and have to pinpoint the art of artistically freedom. I realize that some of you find my Japanese translations a bit annoying, but I just can't imagine Kiba shouting: ****Dual Piercing Fang…**

**Jutsu translation:**

_Jukei no jutsu _**:**** Punishment technique  
**

**Love, Moon**

**Cookies for all of you!**

**tbc**


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